Boy Trouble
by thelastcall
Summary: Alex finds herself unwittingly playing matchmaker between Kara and Brainy when the two have a misunderstanding... but are the pair too clueless to be helped? Set after Season 4: Episode 4 "Ahimsa"
1. Chapter 1

Kara leaned heavily on the second floor railing which overlooked the control center of the D.E.O. and sighed. She could feel her lips turning into a frown and she actively forced the corners of her mouth upward into a trained smile. It was her TV news appearance smile, her meeting with the mayor smile. It didn't reach her eyes.

"What's up with you?"

Kara whipped around to face her sister. Alex glanced at her over the top of the tablet she was holding for a moment and then glanced down again, typing with an annoyed growl at whatever was written on the device.

"Up? With me?" Kara parroted back Alex's question and scoffed, "Nothing's up with me. I'm great… _super_ even."

The elder Danvers finished what she was doing and lowered her device, locking her sister in her gaze. "Then why are you fake-smiling like a maniac and staring a hole in the back of Brainy's head?"

Kara scoffed again, even though she could feel a blush rising to her cheeks. "I'm not looking at Brainy… I'm just looking in a general downstairs-ish direction."

"Kara," Alex leveled, tired, not buying it for a second. "I still have things I need to do before I can go home tonight, so if you could please just spill."

"Okay," Kara relented with a huff, "I think Brainy is mad at me…"

The mild, obligatory interest Alex had been showing about her sister's mood turned to genuine curiosity at the thought of the usually level-headed Brainy being mad at anyone… but especially at Kara. Her eyebrows furrowed, "Mad about what?"

"I don't know," Kara threw her arms up as she spoke, walking away from the railing and toward one of the hallways that branched out from the landing, affording them some more privacy. "I wanted to thank him for the work he did with Lena- making the atmosphere safe for me again- so I was going to take him out for dinner, but when I asked if he wanted to go out to eat he got all weird and closed off! He said he had to work late and I should go eat without him... I even offered to get the food to-go and bring it back here and he said 'no thanks'!"

"He shouldn't be bogged down, he doesn't have any new-" Alex began, before something dawned on her mid-thought, "Wait, where did you ask him to go?"

"That pizza place he always wants to order from," Kara answered plainly, still annoyed and not understanding why that would matter at all. "The only place that will make him that nasty apple and olive pie."

Alex hummed at the response, her suspicion confirmed.

"What does that hmmm mean? Why are you making that face?" Kara asked, leaning in as her sister shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. "Alex!"

The redhead considered the best way to talk about this, a way which hopefully would not send her already agitated sister into one of her outbursts. "Well… there was an incident."

Kara's eyes narrowed, "What kind of _incident_?"

Alex sighed, "I'm not sure if this is my story to tell… but when Mercy was hacking L-Corp, Brainy's image inducer malfunctioned while he was picking up an order of pizza at that shop. The staff were… less than thrilled about Brainy being an alien."

"I'm going to give them a little talking to," Kara growled, her shoulders square and fists clenched in a way that suggested she might have something more than talking in mind.

Her sister grabbed her arm, "Whoa there, Supergirl. According to Brainy, they already got an earful from that new CatCo reporter."

"Nia?"

"Yeah."

"I am SO buying her a latte tomorrow." Kara deflated a little, "But why didn't Brainy tell _me_ about this?"

"There was a lot going on… it was right before you got Kryptonite poisoning." Alex rubbed her sister's shoulder reassuringly. "You know how Brainy is, he can get pretty secretive when it comes to his personal life."

"Or he's mad at me," Kara sighed, unconvinced. "If the pizza place is the issue he could have just suggested we go somewhere else, instead he made up a lame excuse and basically told me to buzz off…"

Alex shook her head. Working so closely with Brainy had apparently given her some insights into his personality and way of thinking that her sister didn't have, despite the fact that she'd consider Kara to be closer friends with Brainy than she was. "You specifically mentioned the pizza place; he probably thinks that part of the deal is nonnegotiable."

"It's just a greasy pizza joint, there's dozens of pizza places like that in this city!" Kara laughed dryly, thinking Alex was trying to comfort her with a fib.

"It was his favorite greasy pizza place. It was his _favorite_ and he can't go there anymore," Alex crossed her arms, holding her tablet against her chest as she spoke. She tried to put herself in Brainy's place. "He loved their food and he probably assumes you do to… and he doesn't want to spoil that for you by telling you about the way they treated him. And I doubt he was expecting you to ask him to get dinner, so he had to think quickly... he didn't have time to think emotionally or consider how you would feel about the situation."

Kara frowned. What her sister was saying made sense and certainly sounded like Brainy to her. "Since when did you become a Brainy-translator?"

"Part of the job," Alex shrugged and then patted her sister on the back. "I bet if you go back down there and ask him to go somewhere else for dinner he'll say yes."

Kara smiled a real smile and headed toward the stairs.

Alex turned her tablet back and looked over her remaining tasks with a sigh. She wished all of them were as easy as helping her little sister with boy trouble- wait, Alex thought for a moment, was this boy trouble? Kara _was_ asking a boy- a man… a _guy-_ to dinner. And she'd been upset that she'd been turned down. But the guy was _Brainy_ , not exactly Kara's type. She went after guys like James and Mon El: leaders, hero types. Brainy was like Winn, a nerdy best friend type. But then again, when they were in high school Kara had a crush on Kenny Li- and he was as nerdy as they come! Maybe she didn't have a set type.

Besides, Brainy was a hero in his own right… he wasn't afraid to run into danger when the situation called for it… heck, she even had to ground him from doing so. And he was sensitive… maybe not in a way that he was able to express easily, but he felt things deeply, Alex knew this. He definitely cared for her sister, it was written all over his face whenever Kara was hurt or in danger. He cared about other people too, but when it came to Kara… was it more than friendship?

Alex put her device on sleep mode again and wandered back to the railing of the second floor, giving herself a bird's eye view of her sister approaching Brainy's workstation below.

The blonde put one hand behind her back and tapped Brainy on his shoulder with the pointer finger of the other. She seemed nervous, her posture tense.

Brainy turned with a start, almost falling out of his chair at the slight but unexpected physical contact. Kara put both hands behind her back, leaning away bashfully, her cheeks turning slightly rosy above her goofy smile. Brainy on the other hand looked terrified- a look Alex wasn't used to seeing on the usually confident and self assured agent's face. He looked at her sister with wide eyed wonder, as if he still couldn't believe he was lucky enough to be talking to Supergirl.

Yup, Alex thought to herself, it's boy trouble… even if the two of them don't know it yet. She strolled away from the banister to give them some privacy and attend to her work.

Downstairs, Kara laughed awkwardly, "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I just- uh… would you like to go out for burgers?"

"Now?" Brainy asked, brow furrowing.

"Yes."

"I thought you were going to eat pizza."

"No," Kara stammered, "Well, yes… I was. But now I'm not. Now I want to get a burger… and I was wondering if you also wanted to get a burger? With me?"

Brainy blinked for a moment as he assessed the situation. "Y-yes!" he said a little too loudly, and then lowered his voice to it's usual calm tone, "That sounds quite agreeable."

"Awesome!" Kara grinned, offering a hand to help him up from his chair, "Let's go!"

He took her help up but then paused, "I would like to get changed first," he gestured briefly to his black D.E.O. uniform, "And perhaps you would like to change as well… Supergirl?"

She looked down and realized she was still in her uniform. "Yeah, good call," she smiled and noted the way his face mimicked the gesture immediately, breaking out into a grin, "Let's both slip into something burger appropriate and meet outside in 15 minutes?"

"Affirmative," Brainy nodded and headed off toward his quarters.

Kara added Alex to her mental list of people to buy lattes for tomorrow and jogged up the stairs toward the balcony. She didn't even wait for the door to close behind her before zooming off to her apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

Kara tried to fly slowly and discreetly, so as not to be spotted… and in attempt to not mess up her civilian clothes which were not as suited to high speed flight as her uniform. She hadn't given herself much time to pick out an outfit, so she went with one of her tried and true looks - a baggy sweater over a polka-dotted button up with a pair of dark jeans.

She spotted Brainy from a few blocks away, absently reading some posters in a cafe window. He was dressed in comfy looking jeans, combat boots, and a flannel with some sort of graphic t-shirt underneath. While his sense of style made him blend in a little with the crowd of pedestrians to an untrained eye, his perfect posture made him easy for Kara to pick out.

She found a quiet alley to land in and straightened herself out the best she could without a mirror. She wasn't sure why she suddenly cared what she looked like, but something about seeing Brainy waiting there made her want to look her best.

"Brainy!" she called his name out and waved as she approached, not wanting to startle him this time. He looked up with a smile.

"Kara. Hello again."

"Are you ready to go have the best burger you've ever tasted?" She asked as they began walking in step with each other.

Brainy gave her a playfully haughty sideward glance, "Do not feign to know what burgers I have tasted, Kara Zor-El."

She scoffed, "Oh, are you going to tell me you're a 12th level hamburger expert?"

He dropped his act and laughed bashfully, "Actually, we don't have beef in the 31st century, so I've never had a hamburger… in fact, I'm not even sure why they're called hamburger if they're made of beef."

"Some things are better left unknown," Kara shrugged as they arrived at their location: a cute retro diner.

As they stood and waited at the hostess stand, Kara leaned in to whisper to Brainy, not wanting anything that might sound odd about her statement to be overheard, "I know everything here is retro to you, but this place is extra-retro."

"1950s?" Brainy whispered back, taking in the furniture and decor..

"Ding ding ding," Kara affirmed as the waitress arrived.

"Two?" The girl asked. Even she was dressed in 1950s attire, like a waitress out of of a movie. "Right this way. You don't mind sitting in a booth do you?"

Kara shook her head and smiled, "I'd prefer a booth, actually."

"Perfect!" The girl seated them in the corner booth and placed two menus on the table. "I'll be back in a moment to take your drink order-"

"Oh, I know what I want to drink," Kara said, grinning, "A chocolate milkshake, please!"

"And for you?" the waitress asked turning toward Brainy… whose nose was buried in his menu.

"I need a moment," he admitted, "Sorry."

"No problem," the girl smiled, "I'll be right back with that milkshake."

Once the waitress had departed, Brainy let out a sigh, obviously flustered. "This menu is a little overwhelming… there are so many options and I've never encountered most of them…"

Kara pulled the top of Brainy's menu down to make eye contact with him, "Just get a burger and a cola."

"But even the burger requires choices!" he hissed, placing his menu on the table and pointing at the list of toppings. "Do you know how many options that is if you include all possible combinations?"

"Trust your gut, Brainy."

He grumbled and returned to his decision making process. "What are you getting?" he asked absently, his eyes still locked on the menu.

"Bacon cheese burger. A classic," she answered confidently, looking across the room as the waitress blended her milkshake with the classic milkshake machine. Her mouth practically watered. It was all she could do to keep herself from clapping her hands when she saw the waitress returning with the drink in the tall glass with the long spoon and the remainder in silver blender cup.

"Here you are," the waitress set both cups down in front of Kara before turning to Brainy again, "Do you know what you'd like to drink?"

"A cola," he said in the very deliberate way he spoke when he wasn't quite sure of himself, "And I believe I'm ready to order."

The girl pulled a notepad and pen from her apron pocket, "What'll you have?"

"One hamburger, please," he bagan, glancing down at the menu for a second, "With… jalapeno peppers, a fried egg, and goat cheese."

"How would you like that cooked?"

Brainy turned to Kara wide eyed, completely unprepared for that question.

"Medium rare," Kara answered for him and he relaxed again.

"And a side of sweet potato fries."

"You got it," the waitress finished scribbling his order down on her pad. She smiled at Kara, "And for you?"

"Bacon cheeseburger, medium rare, with cheddar cheese, and a side of regular old fries," Kara said, handing the girl their menus.

She laughed, "A nice simple order- the chef's going to like you."

As she turned to walk away, Brainy made a small noise, drawing her attention back. "I'm sorry, but do you by any chance have maple syrup?"

The waitress looked confused but nodded, "I'll bring a bottle over."

"Thank you," Brainy smiled before turning to people watch out the window, content with his order.

Kara raised an eyebrow, sipping her milkshake. "Soooo… is the maple syrup for the burger or the fries?"

"Burger."

Kara made a face.

"I like my food to be a combination of savory and sweet," he shrugged. "How is it any different from you having ice cream with your burger?"

Kara hmmphed. "And jalapeno peppers?"

"Savory, sweet, and spicy," he smiled, unphased by her disapproval. They had already been through all of this when she first heard his prefered pizza toppings. Pizza…

Kara was about to bring up what Alex had told her about the pizza incident when the waitress returned with their food, Brainy's coke… and the maple syrup.

"Thank you," Brainy said with a grin, smothering his burger in syrup, apparently delighted with the appearance of his frankenburger creation.

He took one bite and groaned like someone getting a deep tissue massage. Once he finished chewing and swallowing he smiled, "I think I love burgers."

"Sure sounds like it," Kara laughed, taking a bite of her own.

"I think next time I'd like to try one with… grape jelly, colby jack, and potato chips," he said thoughtfully before taking another bite.

Kara's attention had drifted out the window. It was getting later and the bar crowd was out and about. She watched a group of young men swaying and talking in too-loud voices as they marched down the sidewalk to their next destination. She would have stayed lost in thought if not for Brainy almost choking as he frantically mumbled, trying to get her attention despite his mouth being full.

She turned to him quizzically as he cleared his throat and spoke, "Savory and sweet!" He was pointing at her accuatorily.

"What?"

"You dipped a fry into your milkshake!" he announced like Sherlock Holmes solving a murder. "You dipped a _savory_ fried potato into your _sweet_ chocolate milkshake!"

She looked at the half eaten fry in her hand and gasped. She _HAD_ done that, hadn't she? She stammered, "That's different! Plenty of people dip their fries in their milkshakes."

"Maybe," Brainy leaned back in his seat and tilted his face down at her with a smirk, "But somebody had to do it first. Who knows, maybe someday everyone will be putting maple syrup on their burgers."

Kara leaned in and challenged in a whisper, "You're from the future, you would know if maple burgers were a thing."

He leaned in as well, so their faces were almost touching over the table, and whispered back in an equally confrontational tone, "I already told you that burgers don't exist anymore when I'm from."

"And maple burgers have never existed... for a reason." Kara smirked and sat up straight again. She looked back out the window to see the guys she'd been watching earlier were gone and the street was quiet.

"Kara?"

"Hmm?"

"May I?"

Kara turned to see Brainy hovering one of his sweet potato fries above her milkshake, waiting for permission to dip.

She shook her head, "It has to be a regular fry. Here." She took a fry off of her own plate, scooped the perfect amount of milkshake onto it and held it across the table to him. She didn't know what she was expecting him to do, but she was surprised when he leaned forward and bit the fry out of her hand. She dropped it and he leaned back with half of it hanging out of his lip before biting again and maneuvering the rest into his mouth. He didn't notice the blush on Kara's cheeks because he was looking upward at nothing in particular, seriously considering the flavor profile of milkshake fries.

"That was… good."

"As good as maple syrup on a burger?"

He thought for a moment before saying, "Insufficient data."

Kara laughed and slid her plate to the center of the table and passing him the metal cup with her milkshake leftovers inside, "Help yourself."

"Thank you." He was more than happy to accept her offer and put his plate in the middle of the table as well, "Feel free to have some of my sweet potato fries… or a bite of my burger if you dare."

"I'll pass," she said in regards to the burger, but did nab a few of his remaining fries.

When they'd mostly finished what was on their plates, the waitress brought over their bill. "No rush," she said, but Kara could see a couple standing at the hostess stand, waiting to for a table to open up.

"Thanks."

Kara saw Brainy reaching for his wallet. "What's the damage?" he asked, and she wondered where he'd heard that expression. Alex probably.

She folded up the bill before he could see it. "Don't worry about it, dinner's on me."

His expression grew confused and he leaned forward, glancing around to make sure he wouldn't be overheard, "I was under the impression that it was customary for men to pay for food in this time period."

Kara had to stifle a laugh at how serious he sounded. "I know the gender equality isn't quite there yet, but even now that rule is kind of outdated… and a little sexist. People still do it on dates sometimes, but since girls are dating girls and guys are dating guys and non-binary people are dating whoever they want… it's kind of whatever."

Brainy's eyes darted about as he considered this, "I see. So, how do we divide the bill? In half or by item? Oh no, I wasn't keeping track of how many of your fries I ate."

"Don't worry about it," she told him, standing up and taking her own wallet out of her pocket. He stood and followed her as she walked to the hostess station and handed the waitress her credit card.

As the card processed she spoke in a hushed tone to Brainy, "I wanted to treat you to dinner as a thank you for fixing… well, for fixing the air?"

"You don't have to thank me. You should be buying Lena dinner, it was her tech," he shrugged and hung his head.

"Don't be modest," Kara told him over her shoulder as she mentally calculated the tip amount and signed the credit card receipt. "I already thanked Lena… and she told me using the nanobots were your idea. So really… thank you."

"All in a day's work," he joked half-heartedly, placing his hands on his hips and puffing out his chest in a cliche heroic pose.

"My hero." Kara laughed and playfully shoved him on the chest- maybe a little too hard because he stumbled back a step and had to regain his balance before following her out the door.

Outside on the sidewalk, the pair stood awkwardly, neither quite ready to end their night. Kara noticed Brainy seemed a little bit down ever since leaving the table and she definitely didn't want to say goodbye on a low note.

"Do you… want to go for a walk?" she posited with a hopeful smile.

"A walk to where?"

"Just around," she shrugged, "The weather is nice tonight."

"It is, isn't it?" he observed. He offered her his elbow, "Shall we promenade?"

She laughed and pushed him again, lighter this time, "Okay, now that is definitely not a thing anymore. C'mon. Where did you even get that from?"

He smiled and shoved his hands in his pockets, walking in the general direction of the waterfront. "Reading."

"Romance novels?" Kara asked, falling into step beside him.

"Whatever I can get my hands on… so yes, sometimes romance novels," He admitted, not seeming ashamed of this fact at all. "They can be quite interesting if you find a good one."

"I don't think I've ever read one all the way through," Kara thought aloud. "I guess, I like sci-fi stories more."

Brainy smirked and laughed through his nose, "We live in a sci-fi story."

"Would you rather live in a romance novel?" she teased.

He was silent in thought for a moment, considering the question before simply answering, "Maybe."

They reached the waterfront and sat down on an empty bench- one of the many empty benches facing the water. It was a weeknight, so despite the pleasant weather there weren't many people around.

They enjoyed the peace and quiet for a while, idly watching boats on the water. Kara chanced a glance at Brainy and found him also looking at her out of the corner of his eye. He smiled when he realized he'd been caught, an odd smile… sort of sad. Kara returned it though she wasn't sure what it meant.

The strange somber mood of the moment lent itself to the topic that had been weighing on Kara's mind all evening. "So… um- Alex told me about what happened at the pizza place."

"She did?" Brainy asked, his face going pale.

"Yeah. Is that okay?" Kara stammered, wondering if she shouldn't have brought it up. "She mentioned something and I kind of forced it out of her- she didn't volunteer the information or anything so don't be upset with her."

"I'm… I'm not upset," he shook his head, "I just… didn't plan on telling you."

Kara's heart sank. She turned away from him to look at the water again, trying to find the courage to ask him the question that was forming as a lump in her throat. She swallowed, "...Why not?"

He pressed his finger tips together as he spoke. "You've been through so much lately and have so much to worry about still… you don't need to be distracted by something like that."

"Like what?"

"Insignificant," he said, adding after a pause, "in the grand scheme of things."

Kara turned her torso toward him and grabbed his wrist. He jumped at her touch, but didn't pull away. "Querl," she said, looking him straight in the eyes, "You're my friend. Nothing that happens to you is insignificant to me. I care about you."

He smiled that sad smile again, "I care about you, too."

Kara rubbed his wrist with her thumb a few times before letting go and pulling her hand back into her own lap. "Did you… want to talk about it?"

"There's not much to talk about. The pizza men saw my Coluan appearance and attacked me- both verbally and physically. I wasn't in any real danger, I could have easily fought them or escaped if it had come to that… but it didn't. There was a woman there and she stood up against them."

"Nia Nal."

"Yes," Brainy nodded, "After our encounter, I did a little research and I believe she works with you, correct?"

"Yeah, she just started at CatCo," Kara informed. "I haven't gotten to spend much time with her, but from the few conversations we've had it seems like she has a really good head on her shoulders. Her defending you proves that."

"She was…" Brainy searched for the word, a small, but genuine smile playing on his lips, "Impressive." He turned to Kara, a new energy in his voice and posture, "When she and I parted ways I had attempted to get her contact information, but all she offered was her name, saying that if I wanted to find her I would. Since you're co-workers, do… do you think you could formally introduce me to her? Re-introduce me to her?"

"I…" Kara hesitated, taken off guard, "-uh, my secret identity-"

"Oh, true," Brainy said, pressing his fingers together again, "It is my understanding you had been openly dating Mon El as Kara Danvers and I figured that would give us a plausible reason to know each other… but Nia wouldn't have been with the company while that was going on. Perhaps it's safer if you don't get involved. I could ask Lena, surely as the owner of CatCo she could-"

"I'll do it! I'll re-introduce you to Nia," Kara said before she could process what she was saying. For some reason the idea of Lena introducing Brainy and Nia seemed worse that the idea of re-introducing them herself. If she were the one to bring Brainy into Nia's life she'd at least have some claim over him. Claim over him? Is that what she wanted? Maybe… he was _her_ friend. Specifically, _hers_ first.

Not that she was jealous… was she? James had been her friend first… and now he was Lena's boyfriend… and she was fine with that! She was the kind of person who brought people together. She had introduced most of her friends to each other and they'd formed tight bonds independent of their relationship to her and she loved that. She _loved_ her friends all being friends with each other. Being a found family.

And she liked Nia, she wanted Nia to be her friend… the way Brainy was her friend. _Her friend._ Her stomach flipped, she almost didn't hear Brainy speaking to her.

"Are you sure?" Brainy asked her, brow furrowed, "I wouldn't want to ask you to do anything that would endanger your identity or make you uncomfortable."

"It's fine," Kara lied with a smile. She liked Nia... So why was a sour feeling settled in the pit of her stomach at the thought of arranging a meeting between her and Brainy? She was surprised to see how energized Brainy was when he talked about her. She was more surprised that he'd apparently tried to get her contact info in the first place. She'd never seen him show interest in anyone before… maybe Alex was right about Brainy being secretive about his personal life.

He smiled, taking her words at face value, oblivious. "Thank you, Kara. Nia seems like an interesting person, I look forward to getting to know her better."

"Yeah, me too," Kara said, though she didn't sound excited.

"Perhaps you could invite her to karaoke night at the bar?" Brainy mused, "She seems very open minded toward aliens, I think she would enjoy the atmosphere."

"Yeah, maybe," Kara said absently. Before Brainy could speak again, she stood up from the bench, "Can we talk about this some other time? Tomorrow? I'm… not feeling well."

Brainy jumped to his feet, concerned, "Would you like to go back to the D.E.O. and perform a scan of your system?"

Kara smiled politely, "No… I'm fine. I'm just feeling a little tired."

"Oh, alright," Brainy nodded, moving to stand beside Kara, "Would you like me to walk you home?"

"No, that's alright," Kara shook her head, "I'm going to fly. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes," Brainy answered as they waved at each other as Kara paced awaya few steps to take off, "Goodnight."


End file.
